Welcome to My Life
by Sammery
Summary: New chapter added! Naruto can sing! Who knew? What happens when Naruto pours his emotions out in a song he never thought anyone would hear, but then Sakura does? NarutoSakura
1. Welcome to my Life

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Simple Plan's "Welcome to My Life." O man, don't I wish that I did…I'd be rich…

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okay, so I was driving home from college registration and this song popped up on a burn that a friend had made for me. The second I heard it the idea for this story popped in my head and would not leave me alone. This is the first Naruto fic and the first song-fic that I have ever written so please, please be gentle.

Summery: Song-fic based on Simple Plan's "Welcome to my Life." Sakura accidentally finds something of Naruto's, something he never meant anyone to learn of…will she view him differently?

**Welcome To My Life**

**Sammery**

The sun beat down harshly on the neck of a certain, pink-haired, female ninja. She had been training out in the ruthless sun for hours now, the hue of her neck now nearly matching the shade of her hair. Her face was red and splotchy, streaked with sweat, dirt, and grime after a day of hard training.

_I won't be useless anymore! _Sakura thought determinedly, _I will be able to hold my own…to be able to protect my team, not hinder them! _Images of Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke-kun, and Naruto flashed through her mind and she thought about all the times they had rushed into danger because she was not capable of handling herself, sometimes taking great injury onto themselves when they did so.

She flopped down on the grass exhausted both mentally and physically. The day had started out normally enough, Team 7 had met on their usual training grounds and had spent an extra half an hour waiting on their perpetually late sensei to show, and when he did he told them that he had to cancel training today and rushed off without much more than a smirk.

"Why that lousy…" Naruto started off, "Who does he think he is? Having us wait around for him all day and then just running off…probably off to buy another one of his Come Come Paradise books." Naruto pulled a disgusting face at the thought of his teacher's favorite reading material, then he smirked, "O well, not like I need the training anyways…I'm so good I could be Hokage right now! Believe it!" He flashed his characteristic big, cheesy grin.

Sakura hid a grin while Sasuke made a sound of disbelief in the back of his throat and merely turned to walk away…but of coarse, Naruto couldn't let him get away with that. _Here it comes…_ Sakura thought, when she saw Naruto's eyes narrow and he raced after Sasuke, whipping him around with a hand on his shoulder.

Sasuke never even bothered to remove his hands from his pockets; clearly her didn't view Naruto as big enough of a threat. "What do you want Naruto?" he asked in his monotone voice, clearly bored with the situation at hand.

"What was with that? You just make a noise and walk away! Like I'm going to let you get away with that!" Naruto pulled back a fist to sock Sasuke in the mouth but, as always, Sasuke was too quick for Naruto and had dodged him easily. The fight continued, Naruto constantly striking out, and Sasuke dodging smoothly, not so much as breaking a sweat. When Sasuke finally had enough he pulled a hand out of his pocket and landed a punch that sent Naruto careening into a tree 20 feet away.

_Alright, enough is enough! _Sakura decided, and stood up to break up the fight between her beloved and the annoying blonde boy. "Sasuke-kun, we all know that Naruto talks bigger than he is, he probably needs the most training out of all of us…" She quipped, smiling and stepping between the two boys.

Naruto looked hurt, but Sakura couldn't see his face as he was facing her back and had no idea what effect her words were having on the poor boy. Sasuke however, didn't return her smile, or find any jest in her quip, he merely quirked an eyebrow and stared at Sakura. "If anyone in this group needs to train Sakura…it's you. You have yet to truly prove yourself of the title of ninja in a battle, you're practically useless." With that he turned around and walked off, presumably towards home.

Sakura stood in shock. She barely noticed the enraged scream of "SASUKE YOU BASTARD!" or register the rush of wind the past her and Naruto tore off past her to chase down Sasuke. She knew that she wasn't necessarily the best ninja to walk the planet, but to say that she wasn't a ninja…

A surge of anger raced its way through Sakura's body. She raced her way to the nearest tree and began to punch, kick…anything to work out the frustration that she was feeling. Did he think she didn't know that she was hopeless in a real fight? She had all the knowledge in the world…but when it came to a battle she was always needing to be rescued…to have others fight in her stead.

She trained all day and eventually fell to the ground in complete exhaustion; _I think I'm starting to know what Naruto feels like. How can he always train to complete exhaustion, and yet the next day he's smiling and as hyper as ever? I don't think I'll be able to move properly for months._

Sakura heaved herself to her feet and made her way out of the clearing, dragging her feet through the dry grass. She was almost clear of the clearing when she felt her toe bump something and her a soft 'click' as she kicked something small out in front of her. Curiously she leant down to pick up whatever it was and immediately regretted it as her muscles clenched in protest, but she eventually found what she was looking for…a cassette tape, the kind that people record things on. It was completely blank, no writing on the label to indicate what was on it or who it might belong to.

Pocketing the tape, Sakura stood, once again fighting the reluctance of her muscles to move. She looked up at the setting sun as she headed home and realized that she must have been training for hours…and no one can back to look for her…not even Naruto. She felt a pang in her heart that no one thought her important enough to warrant even a glance.

_Why would they care?_ Sakura thought wretchedly, _They spend most of their time protecting me when were off on a mission, why would they want to have to deal with me anymore when they can get away from me while we are home? _

Sakura dragged herself into her home and faced her mother's fury at her being out so late, without any word as to where she was, and coming home in the horrible condition she was in.

Sakura grabbed an apple of the kitchen table, ignored the rest of her mothers rant and forced her tired body up the stairs to her bedroom. She sat on her floor…not wanting to dirty her bed with her grimy body and ate the apple slowly and carefully. Concentrating on not thinking about the events of the day, because she knew that if she did she would begin to cry…she had fought off the tears all day and she was NOT about to give into them now.

She strained her body once more into a standing position and made her way to the bathroom to shower and try to ease the pain in her muscles with the hot streams of water racing from the shower. She carefully took her clothes off and remembered the tape when it fell out of her pocket. _O right…I'll take a look at that later… _She then gratefully stepped into the shower and let the jets take her out of her thoughts for a while.

* * *

An hour later, Sakura had finished her shower and was sitting on her bed in clean pajamas with her wet hair splayed out over her back, idly turning the cassette tape in her fingers.

_I wonder if there is even anything on it…probably not, or they would have written something on it…o well, I might as well check._

Sakura got up off her bed and went over to her desk where a boom box was placed on the edge by the wall. She put the cassette in and, after a moment of hesitation that even she couldn't understand, she pressed play.

At first there was nothing…in fact, there was nothing for so long that Sakura thought the tape really was blank and was about to stop the tape when she heard a faint cough and the scrapping of a chair across a wooden floor. Next the sounds of a guitar being tuned filtered across. The person on the tape cleared the throat and then she heard a voice she definitely hadn't been expecting spoke through her speakers.

"This is Naruto Uzumaki, and this is a song I call 'Welcome to My Life.'"

_**Do you ever feel like breaking down?  
Do you ever feel out of place?  
Like somehow you just don't belong  
And no one understands you  
**_

Naruto had a beautiful voice…slightly rough as was his speaking voice, but what caught Sakura wasn't the melody, but the hurt and pain in his voice as he sang and the lyrics that seemed to ring true both for Naruto, the village outcast, but for Sakura as well.

_  
**Do you ever wanna run away?  
Do you lock yourself in your room?  
With the radio on turned up so loud  
That no one hears you screaming**_

_You have no idea Naruto…_

The tears that Sakura had been fighting all day finally freed themselves to race down her face in little streams. Her childhood full of the teasing and taunts of the other village students protruded to the front of her mind, making the tears run faster.

_**No you don't know what it's like  
When nothing feels alright  
You don't know what it's like to be like me **_

To be hurt  
To feel lost  
To be left out in the dark  
To be kicked  
When you're down  
To feel like you've been pushed around  
To be on the edge of breaking down  
When no one's there to save you  
No you don't know what it's like

Welcome to my life

_I didn't know Naruto…I swear…_

She had always watched the villagers berate and tear apart Naruto. When she was younger she used to be mad at them for it…but when she finally made some friends, when Ino reached out to her, she didn't want to risk loosing them but standing up for Naruto while everyone else was making fun of him. Even the adults did it, so he must have done something to deserve it right?

_O Naruto, I'm so sorry…I didn't mean it…I'm so so so sorry…_

_**Do you wanna be somebody else?  
Are you sick of feeling so left out?  
Are you desperate to find something more  
Before your life is over  
**_

_Naruto…your dream to be Hokage…you don't want to be Naruto anymore…_

_**Are you stuck inside a world you hate?  
Are you sick of everyone around?  
With the big fake smiles and stupid lies  
But deep inside you're bleeding  
**_

_You always hid behind you smiles and jokes…_

Memories of ninja, Iruka-sensei in the lead, racing through the streets, trying to catch Naruto after his latest prank past through her mind.

_You are right there in front of everyone, but still you hide…

* * *

_

_Where did I put it? _

Our favorite knuckled-headed, hyperactive ninja was tearing his apartment to shreds, searching for a tape he should have never made.

_I can't believe I lost it…if someone where to find it and listen to it…O god…_

Naruto stood over the remains of his bedroom when it hit him…he'd put it in his jumpsuit pocket this morning, he'd been planning on throwing it into the river so that he'd never have to worry about it…but he hadn't been able to. He'd been running late and wanted to avoid another lecture from Sakura-chan so he skipped going to the river until after training…but then there was the fight…SASUKE-BASTARD! How could he say that his Sakura-chan was useless, sure she wasn't the strongest ninja in the world…but she was one of the smartest and she could always get stronger…

That's it! The tape must have fallen out when he hit the tree…

Naruto raced out of his apartment, headed towards the training grounds, hoping that it was still there…

* * *

"ARG!" Naruto screamed. He'd searched the clearing over three times and could not find the tape…there was however signs of serious training. Naruto walked up to one of the more battered trees and placed his hand up against the small fist marks that had been left in the tree.

"Sakura…" He looked around, almost in awe of the destruction that Sakura had reigned on the clearing.

Naruto shook his head and started out of the clearing when a thought occurred to him…if he lost the tape in the clearing…and its not here now…and Sakura was the last one here…_O God!_

The color drained from Naruto's face…Sakura had his tape. He raced out of the woods and raced towards Sakura's house, hopefully she hasn't tried to listen to it yet…

_**No you don't know what it's like  
When nothing feels alright  
You don't know what it's like to be like me **_

To be hurt  
To feel lost  
To be left out in the dark  
To be kicked  
When you're down  
To feel like you've been pushed around  
To be on the edge of breaking down  
When no one's there to save you  
No you don't know what it's like

Welcome to my life

No one ever lies straight to your face  
And no one ever stabbed you in the back  
You might think I'm happy  
But I'm not gonna be ok

Everybody always gave you what you wanted  
You never had to work it was always there  
You don't know what it's like  
What it's like

_You're wrong Naruto…I had to work for it…I had to work so hard that it hurt. _

Memories of both her own childhood and her observations of Naruto surfaced and refused to relinquish its hold on her consciousness. It was something she never told to anyone, but she used to watch Naruto. He was an enigma, and she was never one to just sit down and let a mystery pass her by. He didn't look like anyone else in the village, his big blue eyes always seemed so sad…once, and only once, the look in them was so disheartening that Sakura ran over to the, at the time, vary small boy, gave him a hug, and ran off. _He probably doesn't even remember that…_

_**To be hurt  
To feel lost  
To be left out in the dark  
To be kicked  
When you're down  
To feel like you've been pushed around  
To be on the edge of breaking down  
When no one's there to save you  
No you don't know what it's like **_

To be hurt  
To feel lost  
To be left out in the dark  
To be kicked  
When you're down  
To feel like you've been pushed around  
To be on the edge of breaking down  
When no one's there to save you  
No you don't know what it's like

Welcome to my life

Welcome to my life

Welcome to my life

As the song ended, Sakura was determined that not only was she going to be nicer to Naruto. _You're not going to be sad anymore Naruto…I'll make sure of it…_

A smile crossed her face, and Sakura felt truly happy for the first time in a long time. A small giggle escaped her lips. _For Naruto…? _She shook her head, and rewound the tape.

A noise outside her window caught her attention, she turned her head in time to catch the flash of bright blonde hair streaking down the street.

_Naruto…?

* * *

_

_She was laughing…not only did she hear my song, but she laughed at it…_

Naruto fought off tears as he raced home. He knew he should never have recorded that for someone to hear. _No one ever understands…_

He heard the light footfalls behind him and knew that Sakura was following him, calling to him softly so as not to wake the peaceful slumbers of the villagers of Kohona. He ignored her and put on more speed, concentrating on nothing but keeping his pace fast and his feet sure.

However, when he reached his apartment building he stopped dead. He could tell from the ground that something was wrong…his door hung askew at an odd angle, almost falling of the hinge.

_Not again…_

Dejectedly, forgetting for the moment about the pink-haired ninja quickly catching up to him, Naruto made his way into his once again vandalized home to ascertain the damage.

* * *

Sakura came up to the building, gasping for breath, her muscles screaming at her for pushing them so hard after training this afternoon, however all of that was pushed from her mind as she saw Naruto gingerly lift the door up, breaking it free of its hinge without much effort and gently placing it against the wall outside his apartment. Slowly, and miserably he entered his apartment.

Breaking out of her daze, Sakura quickly made her was up the stairs and was disgusted by what she saw inside.

There was nothing left…everything solid this in this apartment had been destroyed…the small table lay in splinters next to something that Sakura guessed could have been a chair at some point. Clothing lay shredded all over the small, one room apartment. The fridge was on its side its contents spilled and the door ripped off. The bed had been somehow sliced through several times so that no part of it could ever be salvageable. The worst part, however, was the bright red paint on the walls proclaiming Naruto a demon who didn't deserve to leave.

In the middle of it Naruto kneeled, seemingly searching under the debris of his bed for something. Eventually he pulled the broken remains of a guitar and that apparently was the final straw. Naruto looked up at Sakura after having ignored her presence since the race through the streets, and that look was back. The look from their childhood when Sakura felt compelled to hug him and this time it was no different.

Sakura walked forward and pulled Naruto into a bone-crushing hug. Somehow it was worse this time…Naruto looked broken…that spark that no matter how bad the situation had always been there was gone.

Naruto sat limply in the embrace. Just this morning he would have given his right arm for Sakura to embrace him like this, but right now he didn't seem to care at all. Running on some instinct that she didn't quite understand Sakura began to rub small circles on his back and place small, chaste kisses to the top of his head and his temples.

She felt warm liquid begin to seep through her shirt and knew that he was crying. She held him closer, desperate to let him know that he was not alone.

Naruto was in the dark. There was nothing around him, and he was happy with it, but he had this feeling that he was missing something. Sakura's face flashed through his mind. _O why should I miss her…she laughed at me…_

**You don't know that…**

_What the…who are you?_

**I am you…**and suddenly there was a mirror image of himself standing in front of him.

**You should talk to her…you don't know what she really thought…**

_She laughed…she thought it was _funny, _she thought that my lifetime of pain and suffering was _FUNNY!

**Give her a chance…she could surprise you…**

Abruptly the was a far younger Naruto sitting in front of him, having just run away from a group of older kids trying to beat him up again. Then suddenly a small pink-haired child raced through his current form and hugged the smaller version of himself before running off…

_That's the day…_

…**the day you fell in love with Sakura, the day you decided to be Hokage…the day you created your destiny…you sure you wanna throw that away…**

The mirror image disappeared but something was taking its place. At first Naruto couldn't make it out…but then the image of a pink-haired angel filled his vision. Sakura was sitting against a wall, sleeping with her head slumped against her chest, and his head lay in her lap, comfortably supported…a bit of serenity in the chaos that his surrounding apartment entailed.

Sakura's eyes began to open and they stared unfocused at him for a moment before…

"Naruto…" she whispered.

"Uh…hey…" he began to sit up and she, reluctantly, relinquished her hold.

"Naruto…I'm so sorry…" she indicated to the mess around them. "How can people be so cruel…"

"It's okay…it's happened before…not so bad as this mind you but…yea…" Naruto didn't quite know what to say. "Anyway, I'm used to it," he stated trying to sound strong.

Sakura gave him an incredulous look before pulling him into another hug. Naruto was frozen for a moment before he placed his arms around her form and pulled her close, as he had been longing to since that day so long ago.

"No gets used to this…" she whispered, her voice cracking indicating the tears forming, "I heard the song remember, that's why you ran away from me in the first place…"

He tried to pull away from her at the mention of the song but she strengthen her hold and refused to let him go. "You're never going to hurt again Naruto…not if I can help it, I swear it."

She now let him pull away enough so that they could see each other's faces. She placed her hands on the sides of his face to make sure he could not look away. "You are NOT alone Naruto…and you NEVER will be again…" She continued to hold his gaze until he nodded his understanding.

While he said he did, his eyes still held question. How could she prove it to him…wait, she had an idea…she leaned forward and her heart beat quickened. She saw his eyes widen and felt him take in a sharp breath. She never thought her first kiss would be with Naruto of all people, but know she felt she couldn't think of someone she would rather share it with.

Gently she placed her lips against his. His very slightly chapped by soft underneath. Just like him, she noted with a smile, a rough exterior but a softy underneath. A shock of electricity went through her when he started to kiss back and his hands splayed gently on her back, pressing her against him a little firmer. They gently disengaged and just stared at each other as they caught their breath.

"Wow…" Naruto finally managed.

Still floating somewhere in the stratosphere, Sakura just smiled and giggled.

"So…uh…what now?" Naruto asked nervously, fidgeting.

Sakura smiled up at him and said, "Well, first you kiss me again," Naruto smirked and leaned in only to be stopped by Sakura's finger against his lips, "No, let me finished before I loose my capability of thought again. Like I said, you kiss me again, and then we get around to cleaning this house, and then…"

"There's more!" Naruto demanded, getting impatient. He really wanted to kiss her again.

Sakura smile, "Just one more thing…" she whispered, leaning closer herself, "You gotta sing some more for me…" she kissed him again. This time it was far more feverant. More want, need and desire.

Once they died down Naruto said, "There just the problem of the broken guitar."

"We'll get you a new one…" Sakura smiled up at him, getting lost in his deep blue eyes, calm for the first time ever in her memory.

"I like that 'we' part." Naruto said, smiling down at the only girl he would ever love.

"So do I Naruto." Sakura said, leaning up and kissing him again, "So do I."

And neither of them were ever alone again.

**THE END**

Note: Okay, so I thought this was going to be a quick little story, maybe 3 or 4 pages long. Yea, according to Microsoft Word I have just completed an 11 page story, all in one sitting, and basically giving up a night's sleep. O well, it was worth it. This story morphed into something entirely separate from what I thought it was going to be…but I kinda like where it ended up so I'm not too worried about it.

As always, please review! How can I get better if you don't tell me what I'm doing wrong?

Have a great summer everyone!


	2. Far Away

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Nickelback's "Far Away."

Authors note: Okay, so I never intended this to be anything more than a one-shot but an idea popped in my head for another bit of Naruto/Sakura fluff sort of along the same lines.

So just to tell you all, I have seen every episode of the anime up until 191, however I haven't gotten very far in the manga but I'm working on it. I know that there is a time jump that happens at some point to shove the story ahead 2 and a half years but I really don't know what happens after that so I'm sorry if I get some details wrong.

I AM getting around to **To See the Dawn** (Inuyasha fic) and **Mixing Wizardry** (Young Wizards), I'm just doing what I always do and procrastinating about it…

Okay, on with the story.

* * *

**Far Away**

**Sammery

* * *

**

"_Welcome to my life…"_

The end of the song played into the ears of a sixteen-year-old, pink-haired ninja. She smiled, content in her knowledge that Naruto hadn't felt that pain that caused him to right that song for a long time.

Not long after they had begun their relationship Sasuke had run off to join with Orochimaru. Naruto had gone off to try and bring him back, promising her that he would return with their friend in tow…but that hadn't happened. The group that went out after him barely returned with their lives and most of that was by the sheer luck of the sand-ninjas arriving when they did. The entire time that Naruto was off, the first time one of them had been on a mission without the other, the only thing Sakura could do was worry about Naruto and when he was going to return.

_This must be what mom feels every time dad goes off on a mission… _Sakura had thought at the time, anxiously craning her neck out of the kitchen window where she had stood washing the same plate so many times that it was starting to loose its color. She strained her ears to hear a bit of his raucous laughter or his voice yelling "Sakura-chan" for all the village to hear. She searched in vain for a flash of his orange jumpsuit or his bright blonde hair.

When news came to the village that the mission had been a failure and that Neji and Chouji were in grave condition Sakura had begun to cry, fearing for the life of her Naruto. She had waited by the gate anxiously for any news to come in about Naruto from the ninja who had gone out to search for the group. When Kakashi-sensei appeared with Naruto on his back she had cried from both relief that he was alive and sorrow at his condition. But he was alive…

For two days Sakura sat at his bed-side, waiting for him to wake up and when he finally did he apologized up and down for failing to bring back Sasuke.

"It's alright Naruto!" she ended up yelling as she threw herself on him, giving him as strong a hug as she could given his injuries, "You're okay…you can always go after him again, the point is that you are okay now…" She cried into his chest, telling him how scared she had been for him and he had tried to calm her, rubbing circles on her back just as she had done weeks before in his destroyed apartment.

Sakura sighed, that had been three years ago now. Naruto had gone off to train with Jiraiya as she studied under Tsunade. She had become far stronger as a girl and a ninja. She had been promoted to the rank of Chuunin a few months ago. She had been so excited when it had happened. She had written to Naruto, telling him of her great news, but as with all her letters there was no way to tell when or if those letter were going to make it to him. He was constantly moving around wherever Jiraiya's fancy took them. He did write when he could. For these last three years those letters were what kept her going. They let her know that Naruto was okay, and that he was still thinking about her. His last letter, however, had made her uneasy.

* * *

_Dear Sakura, _

_I cannot begin to describe how much I miss seeing your beautiful face. It has been too long. I can't believe that it has been almost three years since the last time I have heard your voice and held you. Saying good-bye at the gate that day had to be the hardest thing that I have ever done in my life. I think about you every day and cannot wait until I can see your smiling face again._

_However that day might be farther away than I thought. In the past few days Ero-sennin has uncovered some evidence about the location of Orochimaru and Sasuke…and we've decided to follow the lead. It will be harder to contact me after this, we are going to a place that even mail carrier-ninja do not go. If all goes well I should be returning soon with Sasuke at my side. I will bring him back even if I have to break his arms and legs to do it. Besides with all you've learned from Tsunade-baachan while I've been away you should be able to heal a few broken bones in a jiffy._

_I love you with all of my heart; we will be back together soon. Believe it!_

_Naruto

* * *

_

That letter had come months ago and she had heard nothing from him since. She sighed, and rewound the tape so that she could listen to it again. This tape had made the separation more bearable, she could hear his voice anytime she wanted.

The cassette player clicked, indicating that it had reached the beginning and was once again ready to be played. She was just about to start the tape up again when she sensed a familiar presence behind her. She turned around to face her sensei, the most respected ninja in all Konoha, Tsunade-sama, the Fifth Hokage.

She quickly stood up and removed the head-phones from her ears. She pulled her face into a smile, "Good afternoon Tsunade-sensei." She said, pulling a slight bow.

Tsunade smiled at her student. Over three years Sakura had blossomed into a ninja worthy of her name. There were not many that could hold a candle to Sakura. She had strength to rival Tsunade's own.

Shaking herself out of her little daydream she produced a small, beaten up envelope from the folds of her robe. "This was delivered today to my office…it has your name on it."

Sakura walked up with a confused expression on her face. Why would something for her be sent to the Hokage's office? But there it was, on a plain, tan envelope; her name was written simply across the front but the thing that excited her was that the handwriting was a familiar one. It was her Naruto's!

She quickly snatched it out of Tsunade's hand a raced off home, to open the letter in private, not even saying a word of thanks to her teacher who watched dust drift into the air in Sakura's wake with a smile on her face.

* * *

Once Sakura reached the sanctity of her bedroom she tore open the envelope in desperate need to read the words of the blonde ninja.

However, when she opened the envelope there was no letter that awaited her. In her rush to find out Naruto's latest news she had failed to realize that the envelope was far too heavy to contain merely a letter. Instead of a letter there was a cassette tape. Just like the last one it was completely blank. No writing on the outside to identify whose it was or what was on it.

Positively beaming, the pink-haired girl reached down to the cassette player at her hip and switched out the tape in it for the new one. Placing the earphones securely in her ears so that they would not slip out, Sakura hit play.

For a moment there was silence, and then she heard it, the voice that she only heard on tapes and in her dreams; Naruto.

"Heya there Sakura." It began. Sakura relished in the slightly scratchy voice, and noticed that it had lowered in pitch quite a bit, but that was to be expected.

"I got your last letter. Congratulations! Man do I wish I coulda been there to see you. I'm sure you wiped the floor with everyone else." Sakura smiled, _I wish you coulda been there too Naruto, because then you would be home with me. _

"Now given the circumstances I felt you deserved a bit more than just a letter," Sakura could almost feel him smirking through the recording, "and I also realized that I never did get around to singing to you again…" Sakura's heart beat sped up, was he gonna…

"Now it's been awhile since the last time I sang and played so I might be a bit rusty. Just bear with me okay?" The sound of a guitar being strummed sounded in her ear, "This one I wrote _especially_ for you…I call it 'Far Away.'"

_**This time, This place  
Misused, Mistakes  
Too long, Too late  
Who was I to make you wait  
Just one chance  
Just one breath  
Just in case there's just one left  
'Cause you know,  
you know, you know **_

That I love you  
I have loved you all along  
And I miss you  
Been far away for far too long  
I keep dreaming you'll be with me  
and you'll never go  
Stop breathing if  
I don't see you anymore

Sakura felt the tears pooling in her eyes. _Damn right you've been away too long…just come home Naruto, I'm not going anywhere. I just want to see you._

_**On my knees, I'll ask  
Last chance for one last dance  
'Cause with you, I'd withstand  
All of hell to hold your hand  
I'd give it all  
I'd give for us  
Give anything but I won't give up  
'Cause you know,  
you know, you know  
**_

The tears were flowing freely now. She could hear now, just as she did years ago, the emotion in his voice. But this time it was pain and anguish, he was singing to the woman he loved and with voice betrayed him to that fact. She closed her eyes and imagined that Naruto were right in front of her, singing it to her in person and not on some tape.

_**That I love you  
I have loved you all along  
And I miss you  
Been far away for far too long  
I keep dreaming you'll be with me  
and you'll never go  
Stop breathing if  
I don't see you anymore **_

So far away  
Been far away for far too long  
So far away  
Been far away for far too long  
But you know, you know, you know

**_I wanted  
I wanted you to stay  
'Cause I needed  
I need to hear you say…_**

_**That I love you  
I have loved you all along  
And I forgive you  
For being away for far too long  
So keep breathing  
'Cause I'm not leaving you anymore  
Believe it  
Hold on to me and, never let me go  
Keep breathing  
'Cause I'm not leaving you anymore  
Believe it  
Hold on to me and, never let me go  
Keep breathing  
Hold on to me and, never let me go  
Keep breathing  
Hold on to me and, never let me go**_

She smiled when she heard that he had inserted his trademark phrase "Believe it," into the song. '_O God Naruto, please just come home…' _

Sakura was beside herself. She could not bring herself to open her eyes and face the fact that Naruto was not there with her. It was almost painful. She could _feel _him there in the room. She listened as the last chord of the song sounded and then just sat there. She removed the earplugs and whispered, "Oh, Naruto…"

Quietly she sang the last refrain as the song had requested, still refusing to open her eyes. She was content with the image her mind had created of a smiling Naruto standing in front of her, looking at her with eyes that were meant only for her. "Hold on to me and, never let me go…" she finished, her voice trembling with tears.

She opened her eyes and, as had happened several times before, Naruto was still standing before her. She saw him so often in her dreams that sometimes she opened her eyes and he was still there, gazing at her with love.

But this one wasn't fading…

And his clothing was different from what she remembered…his orange pants remained, however he no longer donned the bright orange jacket, instead we wore a form-fitting black t-shirt that reached his elbows with a fishnet-mesh covering the rest of his arms to the wrist. His hair looked to be longer now too, unable to remain upright as it always had, being gathered at the nape of his neck in a ponytail. And instead of the blue material that his forehead protector used to be on, it was now on a piece of black material that was longer than the blue had been.

And his eyes…they were radiating more love than Sakura could ever have imagined…

Sakura stood slowly and yet the apparition still did not fade. She took notice of another change, this Naruto was taller than her by at least three or four inches.

She took two steps and brought herself up close to the figure, slowly she reached out and placed her fingertips against its cheek. Solid and warm.

"You're…here…" she said stupidly, not fully comprehending the situation.

He nodded once and drew a soft smile on his face, brining his hand up to clasp her small one in his, "I'm home."

At those two words Sakura launched herself the minimal distance between them and crushed Naruto to herself, afraid if she let go that he would disappear and be nothing more than a daydream. She thrust her face into his neck, inhaling his scent. "Naruto, you're back, you're okay!"

She pulled back slightly, still tightly clasping his body to hers but enough so that she could see his face which had elongated and had a far more chiseled appearance.

He smirked down at her, "Like I could stay away, I had you here waiting." With that he ducked his head down and placed a gentle kiss on her lips, a gentle kiss that quickly spiraled into a hot, demanding one; both of them expressing feelings so strong that there were no words to describe them properly. When they finally broke away neither of the could peel the smiles off of their faces.

"So," Naruto started, "I guess you missed me?"

She swatted his arm, careful not to actually inflict damage. "Of coarse I did you dolt!" With that she grabbed his face with her hands and pulled him down for another kiss, not even minding the stubble that was scratching at her hands. There was another change that she would have to get used to.

Eventually their make-out session ended up with them tumbling onto the bed, however nothing happened. They laid there, in each others arms, just content with being in each other presence after so much time apart.

A thought suddenly struck Sakura as she was starting to drift away to sleep in her lover's embrace. "Hey Naruto…"

"Hmm…" he responded, also in a half-sleep induced daze.

"Your last letter…" she pause not quite sure how to proceed, "well, it said that you had gotten a lead on Sasuke…" she trailed off, unsure of how to continue.

"They were long gone." Naruto informed her with a sigh of annoyance. "When we reached the compound it had been abandoned, they were probably about a month gone."

"Oh…and there were no indications of where they had gone."

"None…and honestly," he said, blue eyes boring into her green ones, "I _really_ wanted to get home." He leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead, then on her nose, and then on her lips, a soft, gentle kiss that lingered for a moment.

They parted and soon after that fell asleep in each others arms were an unsuspecting Mrs. Haruno found them the next morning when she came upstairs to find out why her daughter had failed to come down for breakfast. She smiled down at her daughter and the boy she loved and had been waiting on for the last three years.

She quietly walked in the room to shut the shades on her daughter window, not wanting the sun to ruin their peaceful moment. When she turned around she met the sleepy blue eyes of the trickster of Konoha. She mutely put her fingers to her lips to tell his to be quiet and pointed to the still sleeping Sakura. He looked down at the dozing ninja, pure adoration in his eyes. He looked up and nodded at said ninja's mother before lying back down and wrapping his arms firmer around her figure and himself drifted back off to sleep.

Several hours later the both awoke from the best night sleep of their lives looked at each other and smiled, knowing that it would be followed by many others to come.

* * *

**The End

* * *

**

Okay, I re-wrote this ending like 5 times…and I'm still not sure on it but this is the best one I got and I'm tired of screwing with it. I don't think that this story will have anything else added to it but you never know when the lightning bolt of inspiration will strike or on what so…well, I guess I'm trying to say that you never know.

Well…see y'all around, I'm actually going to get to work on my other fics…I swear…no really…


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